Stargate Mass Effect
by InHuman Englishman
Summary: Set after the last SG1 film and Atlantis finale. On a planet at the edge of the stargate network in the Milky Way galaxy, a Citadel commissioned exploration fleet is about to make a a monumental discovery and the people of Shaanxi are going to meet their neighbours. This is my attempt to smash together to well written universes without ruining them. Sorry, no working title yet
1. Chapter 1

I began writing this a year or two ago and decided to put it up. Still not sure how to continue it but I don't really think the Reapers will fit in but we will see how it goes.

September 16th 2013 - USS Ajax 7 min out from P3X-999.

Northern most stargate system on the galactic disk. Edge of Sector 495, Orion galactic arm.

Captain Alexei Karenin, a well-respected officer of the Russian air force and commander of the Daedalus class battle cruiser Ajax, was currently bored out of his mind. 'I hate escort missions' he thought, checking over the first quarterly ships status reports, the only thing of interest being the artificial gravity on E deck going offline accidentally during a standard relay replacement, 'damn academy grads, 1 month into their first posting and they've already made 4 stupid mistakes. I should have them whipped regularly.'

"Captain, we are approaching the target system P3X-999." Came the overly eager call from the helm. "Thank you Lieutenant. Comm, please call Colonel Carter to the bridge." Sighing he thought 'I do wish they weren't so chipper in the mornings, I couldn't have ever been like that could I?'

"Yes sir." Came the reply. The ship banked forward ever so slightly as it dropped out of hyperspace, engaged its sub light engines and arched around heading to the small unremarkable planet that was the focus of their mission. "Begin planetary and star system scans," Alexei ordered "put us in a high orbit over the planet and hold position." the bridge set to work.

Alexei leaned back in his chair 'I don't even know why we are here, who the hell would attack us in the middle of nowhere.' he though bitterly looking down on the mass of blue and greenish yellow of the planet in the system that Star Gate Command Pathfinder had dubbed the 'The Fringes'. Samantha Carter came onto the bridge, in a fashion that could only be described as an exited scamper. Alexei raised an eyebrow at the spectacle. "Surely whatever is in this system can't be THAT interesting Colonel?"

"Well we don't know yet Captain." She replied looking a little red in the face, "It just feels so ... GOOD to be exploring again, even if it is only for this one assignment, they haven't deemed a mission 'appropriate' to my skills in over a year. It's so great to be out of Area 51." Sam was smiling broadly enough to light up a street. "I mean, this is the edge of the stargate network. Whatever is beyond here is completely unknown maybe even to the Ancients!"

"I thought the network covered the entire galaxy." Spoke the Executive officer.

"It does in several directions, except up."

"Up?" Alexei looked confused.

Sam attempted to clarify "Well the ancients arrived and spread out over the Galaxy millions of years ago and they created and expanded the network over all the arms and the under half of the galaxy but for some reason they never went up above 2000 light years all along the galactic disk. Dating techniques prove that the network began in the center third of the galaxy, then they moved down and up. But at that point of 2010.7 light-years up from the central plane of the galactic disk in the Orion arm the star gates just, stop. That leaves around 33,000 square light-years left to go at the galaxies highest point. So we are here at the highest system with a stargate on a habitable world on it -"

"And this is where we will set up our great telescope and peer into the murky dark!" Alexei finished over dramatically. Sam gave him an exacerbated look.

"Exactly, and that is also why your here Captain." said the overly upbeat voice of Colonel Mitchell as he strolled onto the bridge "Oh come on! It'll be fun."

Alexei stared at him, "Colonel in my experience a man is either high or mad to enjoy escort duties." he said bitterly.

"Captain, deadline in one minute." came a call from ops.

"Showtime boys and girls." Cam said cheerily.

_I hate Americans. _Thought Alexei.

_-*%*%*%*-_

Star Gate Command. Gate room. - Same date and time.

"Okay everyone good to go!?" came a call from the Lt Colonel in charge of security for the team.

"I think that's everything." replied Daniel Jackson as he glanced at Dr Carolyn Lam who nodded and Vala who blew him a kiss in response before grinning, "I'll take that as a yes. We are ready." He said putting his handgun in its holster and hand scanner in his breast pocket.

"Good travels gang, try not to piss off anymore extra-terrestrials." General Landry's voice rang over the tanoy as the gate began to spin.

"So what romantic getaway are you whisking me off to this time Daniel?" Vala asked in a mock love-struck voice. Daniel did his best not to be irritated but it still showed on his face, which got another smirk from Vala. "We are going to P3X-999 to set up a new deep space telescope and satellite observation stations so we can see what is beyond the edge of the star gate network, as you well know. We will be there for two weeks mapping anything of interest and scouting out the old ancient outpost there, or what's left of it, so could you please, PLEASE let up on me until we are at least ON the planet?"

Vala pulled a face of deep concentration "Ummmm no." Daniels head dropped in defeat. She smile again.

"Chevron seven locked." The brilliant and very familiar wormhole burst forth from it confines of subspace and then settled back into the watery looking event horizon. "Alright lets go" the colonel called and Daniel, Vala and the good Doctor along with five soldiers and seven more scientist walked through to rendezvous with the Cruiser.

_-*%*%*%*-_

Planet P3X-999, The Fringes System.

On the other side, Danial face was struck by a sudden burst of sunlight, he shielded his eyes 'the one time I forget my sunglasses' he though irritably, pulling out his hand scanner and walking over to stand in the shaded patch cast by the stargate.

"Alright boys and girls, no more than a 20 meter spread for now and NO ONE goes off on their own, set up and start scanning for a suitable camp site." A chorus of acknowledgement came back. "Stargate command this is Stevenson everything is green so far, we will report back in four hours."

"Understood colonel." The gate closed behind them.

"Jackson to Ajax, come in please..." There was a pause

"We read you Doctor, this is Ajax, we are transmitting planetary scans do you copy?"  
There was a beep from his scanner which lit up with a map of the planet, Daniel skimmed through it and nodded to himself in satisfaction, "Scans received and appreciated."

"Stand by for personnel transport. We will be remaining in system for seven days doing a full catalogue of everything in the system, and deploying the satellite network."

"Understood Ajax, next check in is scheduled 3 hours 54 minutes from now."

"Copy Jackson, Ajax out."

There was a flash of light and Colonel's Carter and Mitchell along with ten soldiers appeared before them "Daniel, buddy how you been this past week."

"WE have been wonderful Cam." Said Vala bounding up to them, "How was your trip with captain grouchy." she asked smiling.

"Oh come on leave Alexei alone he's under a lot of stress, on a very dull posting. His wife is like a month away from popping out little Alexei junior and he gets posted way out here." Sam tried to reason. "Well he doesn't have to turn into the grouchy Russkie and take it out on the rest of us does he." Cam said. "Let's get going we've got a base to build." They walked over to Dr Lam and the colonel and began looking over maps to find a suitable location to begin construction of the new deep space telescope.

Daniel raised his hand to shield his eyes, Vala walked up to him, "Would these be helpful darling?" she asked sweetly holding up his sunglasses that he had left in the mess hall that morning "Getting forgetful in your old age are we?". He gave her an irritated look before taking them with a muttered thank you and turned away. She sighed a little 'when am I going to get thought to him.'

_-*%*%*%*-_

September 21st - Survey Teams finally locate a suitable base camp inside the basin of a small long dead volcano now covered in grass and nothing more than a moderately sized hill with a small depression on its peek on the coast of the smallest continent in the Northern Hemisphere, 1.7Km due west from the Ruins of the ancient outpost.

Ajax transmits data package containing all information on the star system before breaking orbit and returning home. It is scheduled to return in January to begin investigation of neighbouring systems.

October 4th – Temporary base structures and warehouse structures are complete housing the Barracks, landing pad, warehouse, Hanger, labs and civilian accommodations. Assembling of the telescope begins, the star gate is transported to the base. Project chiefs Col. Samanther Carter, Col. Cameron Mitchell and Col. Mark Stevenson relieved. Base commanders are appointed;

Security chief Major Kim Hye Gi, UN Peace Keepers Ground Forces (Originally South Korean Army).

Head of Research Dr Sophia Kantor, Homeworld Research and Development Service, Project Pathfinder, (Former assistant director of Astrophysics at Innsbruck University Austria).

Chief of Base Operations Mark Ericsson, Homeworld Intelligence Service (MIT Graduate and former Homeworld Intelligence chief of operations for Chinese Whispers observation station Echo 3, Luna base.)

October 5th - Construction of the Telescope is complete, the new science teams and defense forces of SGC marines and a flight of five F-302 Interceptors arrive, total base population 112. Tests of base shield systems are successful. Attempt at an alternative base cloak failed at this time due to insufficient power provided by geothermal tap, problems to be re-examined at a later date (Yet to be determined).

October 10th - Telescope tests on in system stellar bodies successful. Outer system scans due to start 7:00AM the following day. Long range sensor satellites are brought online having been left in orbit by Ajax before its departure. Base is registered as fully operational.

_-*%*%*%*-_


	2. Chapter 2

January 3rd 2015. Office of Home world Security the Pentagon.

General Landry walked into the large circular hall and sat down at the large desk in the middle of the room, "Good morning ladies and gentlemen, let's get started." They all nodded.

At the table and in the coliseum seating above were the leaders or prominent figures of all nations with their military attaches along with the Key figures in the star gate program and a representative from the Free Jaffa nation and from the Tok'ra were present.

President of the United States Barack Obama Spoke first "I'm calling this meeting to order, be aware everything said here is for the time being classified as top secret, we are here to discuss the after effects of the recent disclosure of the star gate program on the general population, but specifically the current effects it is having in North Korea, President Park Geun Hye will now speak."

The South Korea president at the far left of the table stood and began to speak into her microphone sending information to a universal translator in the middle of the table which relayed her words to the ears pieces of all others present.

"As of today one month after Disclosure of the program, the north is in a state of open rebellion against the leadership, disclosure has been the catalyst for a series of rebellions in all major cities, towns and ports, when global disclosure occurred the leadership made every attempt to keep it from the population, this evidently caused a huge rift in the leadership and full disclosure occurred seven days later, not through state channels but through rebellious elements in the leadership. Kim Jung Un and the military council then attempted to have these elements eliminated, but many orders where simply ignored, once one order was ignored many others were also, the administration effectively stopped working from that point on. There are now around 5000 people a day coming across the border into the south and a further 7000 into China, but what is unexpected is that the North's army is doing nothing to stop them at the boarders and are in fact fleeing with them in many cases."

She pause for a question from the German chancellor Angela Merkal "Are you saying the Army is in full revolt? The administration has lost control?"

"Not completely." She responded. "It is more accurate to say that they have entered a state of inaction towards their boarders, they are keeping other nations out and boarders secure but are not stopping civilians from leaving the country, however Pyongyang and Rason city have remained under the administrations control due to the high influence of the party over the armed units in these cities." She took a breath and continued. "The capital is effectively a war zone. After the first violent crackdown last week, revolting army units and civilians involved in protests against the administration were attacked by loyal forces and were driven out of the city centre and business sections, our intelligence in the cities report that when news of this spread, revolting units in the surrounding areas entered the city suburbs and set up defensive lines against loyalist troops along the south bank of the Taedong river, we believe they have now almost surrounded the city, we do not know who the commander on the spot is or if there even is one, or what their strength is, but all other Loyalist forces are either holding out in small towns and villages, prison camps or switching sides.

Rason city however is different, it has been locked down by the administration, the party governor has isolated the city from the rest of the nation, we have no idea what is happening inside or what his future intentions are but as a party official he will most likely be looking to take over the party when Pyongyang is over run, then attempt to seize power, at least that is our most prevalent theory." She paused for a few remarks.

"So the man's just riding out the storm so he can make a power grab" commented General O'Neil. "What are options for intervention?" Asked Obama.

"As you know we made an attempt to make contact with any officials three weeks ago but the presidencial line was cut and has remained so, upon reaching the boarder were told that until the crisis was resolved NO ONE was to enter the country, in any form." she replied. "We have set up refugee camps along the border and everything is well in hand, we have had contingency measures set up for decades for this exact situation, but for now we will just have to see what happens over the next few days, all we can do is use the star fleet to transport emergency supplies into critical areas which we have been doing for the past two days."

"What about Air drops?" Asked Obama.

"Too dangerous," remarked General Landry "we have no idea who is manning the air defenses now, or what they would do when they see UN or South Korean craft enter their air space."

There was a murmur of conversation around the table, then Merkal spoke again, "Could this be the first steps towards reunification?"

"That would be the ideal outcome yes but we have no way of knowing," Park Gyung Hye replied "it is too early to tell, there is a strong chance that a request for aid will come soon. Due to their isolation their food reserves will be gone in a matter of weeks as will most likely their medical supplies and munitions, if we can get them to accept direct aid from the South it would go a long way, but it is still a deeply suspicious land. Then there is also the chance that the leadership will make one last attempt at our destruction, their missile systems are still very much operational, we therefore request the repositioning of the starship Daedalus so as to intercept away any potential threats." There was another murmur of agreement.

General Landry replied, "Absolutely, I will have the orders requested now," He turned to his left "Lt Tanerson, please send this order the comm room." He signed and handed over a piece of paper. The officer nodded and left the hall.

"Alright," Said Obama "Let's move on."

_-*%*%*%*-_

Time line

Dec 3rd 2014 - With repairs to Atlantis complete, the removal of the System Lords, Replicators and Ori as a major threat, the formation of the defensive line around earth and the expanding number of people being sworn into the Star gate program, the decision of full disclosure to the general population is approved. Several months of planning has assured world leaders of a smooth transition into the new age. All nation leaders made announcements to their populations at the same time on Every TV, Radio channel and internet broadcasts at 11:59. The first official speech was made at Greenwich Mean Time, London outside 10 Downing Street by the UK Prime Minster.

Dec 4th - Fears of Mass hysteria are unfounded as populations are reassured of their safety by footage of demonstrations of the defensive fleets above Earth and F-302's over capital cities. The only exception being in North Korea whose government tries to keep the revelations from their populations in an attempt to hold onto power.

A Season of pre prepared television and radio programs is broadcasted lasting nearly a month, on the galactic community, recent earth history, alien nations and cultures, Galactic history, new sciences and medicines, also interviews with Star gate veterans and commanders as well as a member of the Tok'ra Council and the new ambassador of the Free Jaffa Nation to Earth. The terms 'Terran' and 'Tau'ri' is first heard in use by official's during and minutes after the first broadcasts and soon becomes the accepted terminology for earth populations. Sociologist theorise that these communal term were a key part in creating a sense of unity in the population, as for the first time humans on earth are considered a single people by both themselves and others.

The world is introduced to the idea of 'Ascension', and people soon understand that the revelation of life beyond earth doesn't mean their faith and religion are wrong. World religions soon begin adapting their teachings to the idea that rather than entering heaven or the afterlife one should achieve ascension that the prophets of god(s) such as Christ, Muhammad and Buddha may have done before.

Dec10th 2014 - Mass popular protests sweep Iran when the Ayatollah decrees a limit on knowledge of the wider galaxy realesed to the country. A brief coup in Iran is concluded and the authoritarian regime of the Ayatollahs is replaced with an interim government headed by the Prime Minister, he anounced elections to be held in one year for a new parliament and constitution.

New technologies are freely traded openly for the first time. Various companies vied for government contracts on the development of new commercial products, medicines, tools, weapons, along with Infrastructure upgrades, ship construction and research and development programs.

Realising that despite the large numbers secretly trained by the IOA and SGC in the function of modern technology, there is still a huge lack of properly skilled manpower, therefore pre planned projects come into effect, using government grants and private sector sponsorship in the training and retraining of the population to modern standards, the projects are expected to take a minimum of five years to show results.

Dec 11th - Open rebellion against the North Korean leadership breaks out, while many would call it a civil war the oppositions political stance is far from clear, and it is more of a mass rebellion with no clear leadership.

Dec 20th - The delegation of the Free Jaffa Nation is officially welcomed to Earth and at the ambassadors discretion the location of the Jaffa ambassadorial residence is chosen in Madrid. When asked why they selected the City Ambassador Cherok of the delegation replied, "It was not a decision made to insult any others of the Tau'ri, it was made simply for the climate, city status as a major planetary capital with suitable infrastructure and the atmosphere of the city. It reminds us of home."

Dec 25th - All contact with the N. Korean leadership is cut off, there is no response from any officials and the only signals from them are automated radio messages spouting pro regime propaganda.

Dec 26th - Atlantis launches from earth's surface using a large number of heavy-duty Naquada generators and after a monumental power drain maintains a stationary position in orbit. With the transfer of the ZPM from the Odyssey to Atlantis the return jump through hyperspace to the Pegasus galaxy is scheduled for January 2nd to allow for shore leave to celebrate the New Year.

January 1st 2015- The New Year is rung in, a precession of Jaffa honor guard parades through New York and Madrid alongside Star gate teams and personnel as a symbol of unity and solidarity as well as to allow people to see an alien up close. The new Tau'ri ambassador to the Free Jaffa Nation is sworn in and introduced to the newly christened 'Jaffa Office' in the UN building.

January 2nd - Atlantis departs for the Pegasus galaxy. Returning to M35-117 it arrives on January 4th and restores normal operations. Richard Woolsey retains command.

February 25th - plans for an expansion of Alpha site on P4X-650 into an Agricultural colony are unveiled; this is to solve food shortages in the developing and third world and to ease off dependency on African and Chinese farms which are suffering from early Desertification.

A small housing project begins in the plains 4km due west of the mountain range containing the base. Colonial training for civilian settlers begins for the first time. In the coming years it will become the bread basket of humanity and a major agricultural trade hub.

Plans for further development of other off world bases continue.

The chief of operations for the colonization effort called it "The chance to grow our own Eden and to build a community that is in tune with its environment, this world will be proof that humanity can grow without destroying the planet around us."

The planet was re-christened Eden Prime.

Feb 28th - Rebellious members of the military and civilian sectors of North Korea send a request for help. Mass famine has gripped the nation as what little supply reserves are gone.

March 1st - The great minefield that spanned the 38th Parallel is detonated using new portable shield generators covering key sections of the boarder. Mass transport of emergency supplies begins with huge quantities of food and medical supplies moving across the border and arriving at ports all over the coast as well as air drops in to key areas over the country.

Mar 9th - Nominal stability over North Korea is restored and the sheer devastation wrought by the communist regime is reviled. Officials believe it will take 7 years or more to compile all date necessary to assess the damage caused.

December 11th - In a surprising turn of events, a message is received through the star gate from a small Hebridan exploration team on a gated world 0.7 light years from Hebridan, in the message is a request for help. Following expeditions to the planet reported on the aftermath of the Ori occupation, with around half the major cities in ruins from the conflict and the rest sporting extensive bombardment.

Having heard reports of the Ori crusade and receiving a Prior through their star gate, the Hebridan government decided to bury their gate and set up planetary defenses. However this only provided a delay to the invasion and loss of all surrounding colonies, a fierce battle for the planet had continued until the Ark of Truth was activated which lead to the eventual departure of Ori forces. Over the following months refugees are accepted on Earth and Eden Prime, along with emergency crews and supplies travelling to Hebridan via the new 'Terra' class freighters Uinted nations Star Ship(USS) Star of Terra and Ark of Sol escorted by the Daedalus class USS Beowulf.

July 2016 – Hebridan officials are welcomed to earth. A speech of gratitude is made by the Hebridan first minister for the generosity of the Tau'ri people. An ambassadorial residence is established in the City of Edinburgh and a Hebridan office set up at the UN. In the words of the first new ambassador "It seemed fitting."

February 2018 – A complete in-depth planetary survey of all Tau'ri controlled world's starts showing results. A final report on Beta site is submitted listing developable resources including rich deposits of iron, tin, copper and moderate sized naquada deposits in one of its four moons. Scans also indicate several fertile valleys, enough to support a moderate population.

May – Omega site report submitted. It will continue as a key research post due to the remaining Asgard installations. Rich tungsten deposits are mapped nearby. A plentiful source of small rapidly reproducing fish is shown to be a reliable source of food.

November – The naquada mining site on P4F-221 is expanded to help meet the requirements of the fleet and population. There is farmable land away from the mining sites although the soil is not of great quality but with fertilizers it can produce enough to support its now growing population. However the planet is mostly dry, hot dust planes and desserts with few open areas of water. The colony would soon rely heavily on imports from Eden Prime in the future.

2022 - The first generation of new workers trained in modern technologies graduates from Universities and adult training courses en mass over the year. Thousands of new workers have now become the cornerstone of the new world economy. Converting infrastructure up to modern standers begins in earnest with the people of earth eager to join the galactic economy.

2023 – With Oil and gas foreseen as becoming gradually less important with new ways to create energy from Hydrogen quickly and cheaply and the creation of Thorium run nuclear power plants (although they would remain a key resource to the developing world for decades), many corporate energy giants are given hefty 10 year tax cuts so they are able to upgrade and convert their existing technology with a minimal of cost that otherwise would cause a high number of job losses. Research into drawing power from subspace is still in its very early planning stages, even with prior knowledge from the Asgard and the Ancients. Development on reproducing crystal power cells is progressing well, with the first batch of prototypes grown successfully although power output is still too low to be considered viable.

2026 – All countries vote to expand the United Nations in to a global and interplanetary government so as to create a unified front for facing the galaxy, as many quickly realise a divided Earth meant a weak one, and would not last long. Legal and political restructuring of planetary governments begins. In Grand ceremony on the 23rd of April it is renamed the United Terran Nations and Systems, much like the United States of America and the European Union, individual nations operate their own institutions and have state laws, but all millilitres are combined when outside of their home nations and all answer to the laws passed by the General Assembly. The General Assembly and Security Council are merged into a single institution so no one could take control by force of arms, the power of veto is abolished after much heavy debate and threats of walkouts by The Americans, Chinese and Russians.

January 1st 2027 – The first single currency market and monetary unit is introduced to the UTNS. The 'Credit' is the first currency to be used by the world over as an official global currency. Marketed to the world economy it is set at 11.34Cr to the old U.S Dollar, or 17.55Cr to the Jaffa 1.44 gram Naquada coin.

2039 – The new human colonies reach their first milestone as the total population living permanently off world reaches 1,000,000 settlers. The majority originating from America, China and India spread out over the five original off world bases that have now been developed into small colonies producing raw materials for the homeworld while building infrastructure for the predicted millions that will soon emigrate from earth. In the future these worlds would become home to hundreds of millions of people turning into the cultural and economic hubs of Tau'ri space along with Earth.

2047 – After much negotiation a political/military union is formed between the UTNS, Tok'ra Systems, Hebridan Union and the Free Jaffa Nation to create the Star Gate Union. The Union is created to prevent conflict between species and to create a solid front against the now rebuilt and better organised Lucian alliance and remaining loose confederacy of Goa'uld lords.

The SGU is officially proclaimed on 23rd march 2047. Speculation and debate on expanding it to and economic union begins but seems unlikely to happen for many years if ever.

_-*%*%*%*-_


	3. Chapter 3

What ho Chaps, just a few remarks and responses to people.

Firstly I'm not Beta'd so any mistakes I make and pointed out to me are appreciated but I can't correct them if I don't know where they are, so just stating the word I got wrong in your reviews and not say where it is **doesn't really help much**, also I'm English not American so there are going to be some spelling differences.

Secondly to the reviewer 'WTF', the mistake is yours not mine, US presidents can only be elected for two consecutive terms of four years which mean president Hayes is out of the picture as he appeared in an SG1 Episode in 2009, I put Actual leaders in because I couldn't be bothered to come up with new names for people who will never come up again. So I did **GET IT RIGHT** as you so nicely pit it.

Thirdly I've decided to not even bother with the Reapers story line, as good as it is (except for ME3 which was total WANK) Its been done to death so no sense doing the same thing.

Lastly I'm jumping ahead in the timeline but I intend to reference intervening years as the story progresses, I have a few codex entries which I'm trying to cleaning up, I may publish some point in the future as well, I'm a great lover of world building.

Okay this is where we really start the story now.

October 27th 2083.

Septimus Oracha commander of the newly created exploration fleet walked onto the bridge of the Turian heavy cruiser Primarchs Will. He commanded the three fleet divisions composed of 60 ships each, they were tasked with protecting the exploration flotillas that were mostly comprised of science vessels and freighters.

For the past month they had been exploring the Texera Expanse. With the growing power of the Terminus systems the council was losing control over smaller and independent resource producing colonies and companies while production in council space was falling every fiscal year, they realised that the economy needed to expand in order to prevent a depression and the only way to do that was find more resources, thus the decision to open inactive relays was approved. To discover new resources and to create new colonies was worth the risk of fighting a possibly hostile race which the council believed it would now be able to deal with.

The choice over which area of the galaxy should be opened up was a large one and after much study, research and debate the Texera Expanse was selected. Several reasons were cited for its selection; the cluster was a significant distance from the Terminus Systems bordering the Attican Traverse and the Skyllian Verge, it was smaller in size by nearly 40% than the regions of space other primary relays led to or were projected to lead to, this reduced the possibility of simply discovering another intelligent species at all. But the most prominent reason was submitted by the Turians, "there's only one way in and one way out." The Expanse had only one know relay connecting it to the rest of the galaxy, presumably due to its size, where other clusters had a primary and as many as four or five secondary relays, which would mean a strong defensible position against an attacking force.

"Sir, all stations are reporting full efficiency, we are approaching the next relay." Stated the XO, he stepped down from the captain's podium and stood at attention.

"Thank you commander, you are relieved." He stepped up. "What is this relays designation?" He asked not looking up from the report he had been given. "Secondary relay 313 General." came the response from the science officer. "Comm please open a channel to Matriarch Ishana." The face of a pale blue Asari appeared a moment later on the holographic display, "Matriarch, you know the routine, prepare your vessels for transit."

The woman nodded. "Well let's see if there is something interesting in system number 4." She stated in a bored voice, a beeping noise sounded through the transmission, "We are in formation, probes are standing by."

Septimus nodded "Activate the relay."

Two small, Salarian built ships began broadcasting to the relay and activated the trigger mechanism before moving off quickly so as not to be caught in the immense mass effect fields. The Ice encrusting the surface of the relay began to crack apart and drift away as the huge structure powered up and the rings in the center began to spin and glow with a bright blue light.

"Status on the relay?" requested Septimus leaning forward on the railing in front of him.

"Mass effect fields stable, power levels at 99.6%, approach vectors are now clear of debris, probes are ready for launch, general."

"Thank you science, commence with deployment." Septimus stepped down from his podium and walked towards the galaxy map in the center of the room which was now depicting the group of 35 probes as they sped towards the relay and were then engulfed by the great flashes of blue energy and propelled at great speed towards the adjacent relay.

_-*%*%*%*-_

Shanxi colony P3X-999 Fringes system. Level 2 of Military and research base.

Doctor Sophia Kantor was currently working in the observatory lab awaiting the results of the video enhancement programs from a transmission of a downed stellar mapping satellite in the adjacent star system, a definite deviation from her average day at the office. Her assistant Dr Wen appeared next to her with a worried expression on his face, he silently handed over a pad. The doctor took it and a video began to play, her eyes widened at the images playing before her she was then walking out of the observatory, then jogging along the corridors and finally almost running towards the Operations room. 'I'm getting too old for this' she grumbled inside her head. Reached the ring transporter that would take her to the room in the control tower 12 meters above her, she re-materialized in the adjacent corridor to the Ops room and then started moving again, people jumped out of her way as she just about fell through the door of the office of the Chief of Operations Colonel Miles Shane who didn't even look up from his data pad and said "Hello doctor, something interesting to tell me?"

He was only 47 years old, which by current standards was seen as still being a young man as the average human Lifespan for those born in the 1970s was estimated to be around 150 years, with those of the later generations believed to be able to reach a possible 200 judging by the life expectancy of your standard Jaffa, but a reliable average wouldn't be available for a long time.

Miles had thick dark brown hair and blue eyes, clean shave with pale white skin and a few light scars on his hands. Standing around six foot and holding the medium build of someone who enjoyed some sports but didn't take it that seriously anymore. He had been given command of Pathfinder base 03 on Shaanxi seven years ago and had made a respectable name for himself in both the base and colony as a man with a clear set of principles and a friendly outlook. But he was not the best talker in the galaxy and sometimes, it must be said. thinking a bit too logically about things to the mild frustration of his colleagues.

Dr Kantor was breathing heavily as she attempted to speak "Muh . . . moon in . . . sy – system beta, " she took a deep breath and said "Exploded!"

THAT got Miles's attention, he got up and ushered her into the chair on the other side of his desk and handed her a glass of water from a jug and gave her a second to collect herself.

Sophia Kantor was not as fit as she used to be she realised, not having had to run properly in several years. Despite her husband's assurances she knew she was showing her age. Her once deep red hair she now required to dye to get the grey out and her lightly freckled cream skin was getting a couple of deeper lines in it. She may have a slim figure but this more due to diet than regular exercise now. But at five foot six, 105 years old AND after two children she still considered herself an attractive woman.

Now that she had recovered Miles asked her for more details. "I got an emergency transmission from our observation satellite the Beta system. It was a system failure alert." She took the data pad Miles had been reading and began typing, after a moment a video came up depicting the camera view from the satellite scan over a yellowy orange gas giant. It then swerved sharply right and the sight of a small ice moon steaming, cracking and finally breaking apart with bright blue burst of energy, great chunks of ice hurtled off in all directions several heading for the satellite. One crashed into the device, the camera started spinning catching glimpsed of other pieces of the satellite before cutting out to a blank screen. A message then appeared on the screen

"Satellite systems compromised. Transmitting data core to base. Beginning data wipe. Activating locator beacon. Shutting down."

Miles was stunned at the spectacle he had just witnessed "Why didn't out perimeter satellites pick this up?"

Sophia frowned for a minute "Well, their primary purpose is to detect hyperspace windows and while they have cameras they're just proximity recorders way to short range to be of any help. We got lucky Miles, my satellite was just in the right place right time."

Miles nodded "Yes very lucky indeed. So, how the hell does a whole moon just explode?"

"That's not the most important part." Dr Kantor stated "look at this," she took back the pad and began typing again "This is an image caught by the camera when it was spinning, it briefly came back around to where the moon used to be and captured it, I've been enhancing the whole video for the past two hours, then Dr Wen noticed this." She handed back the pad, obscured by the debris of the moon he could see two points of a structure sticking out from behind the rocks, it had a distinctive purple colour, there was also a bright blue orb in the centre of the picture showing through a gap in the debris. "Something was hidden in that moon, powerful enough to rip it apart from the inside." She said.

Miles eyes widened, he stood up abruptly walked quickly out into the Ops room. It was a wide open space with a huge thick pane of glass coming down from the grey ceiling parallel to the wall and directly opposite the door to the ring room and staircase down. The room itself was a hexagon shape with the windows in the ceiling and walls on either side of the door and Miles's office on the right of the Glass pane, the walls themselves painted a cream colour. Five dull silver coloured consoles were spaced in a semi-circle facing and curving towards the glass pane, with the command chair in the center of the room standing about a meter behind the consoles. The Consoles from left to right were Science station, tactical, communications, Sensors and engineering. All along the walls were smaller consoles that handled various maintenance controls and open consoles that could be used for work from any department. Directly below the Glass pane was a rectangular desk with a black glass top which was actually an interactive display screen currently showing an overview map of the colony and two crewmen looking over it.

Miles started issuing orders as soon as he came out, "Science, bring the telescope round, switch to a live camera feed and focus on the co-ordinates the doctor is sending you, Tactical bring the base and colony shields online and send a stand ready message all ground forces and defense platforms in orbit, Sensors I want all covert satellites to converge on beta system but hold back ten and set up a perimeter around the Fringes. Engineering begin priority checks on all systems, Comm open a channel to Rear Admiral Karenin on the Zhukov, then recall the two system patrol squadrons and send a subspace transmission to sector command on the doctors findings." Calls of acknowledgement came from all station and Miles sat down in the command chair.

He paused a second and then turned to face the doctor as she emerged from his office, "Sophia why didn't you just contact me in the computer?" She turned a little red when he reminded her that running up all the way here was unnecessary.

_-*%*%*%*-_

In under a five minutes the entire system became a huge mass of activity. Seventeen large defense platforms activated their thrusters and began to reorientate so they faced the direction of the Beta system began and shored up their defensive formation in orbit over Shaanxi, each primed their twin Asgard beam weapons, turret mounted defense rail guns and ion cannons. Various Covert satellites activated their micro-drive engines and sped out of the system and then repositioned themselves around the Beta system before cloaking. Two groups of ships headed towards Shanxi, a total of 6 ships composed of EB Euro-101's. These were small gunships, used primarily for policing duties in system, catching smugglers, criminals and all the other ne'er do wells that took on the Shaanxi police forces. They were armed with a set of twin ion cannons and four missile ports.

Down on the planet two massive energy shield domes rose up from the ground in two circles one around the military base and the other around the colony. Miles had decided not to initiate a full combat alert thinking it would cause a panic in the population, combat alert would mean bringing online the planet's surface defense weapons (in Shaanxi's case three anti-ship Ion cannons and several anti-air missile batteries) and the setting up of anti-air rail guns throughout the colony and base as well as calling up all local garrison forces and fully arming all police units, in total numbering about 45,000 men and women, to support the 3000 Terran Peacekeepers. The four FI-305 squadrons would then be put on combat readiness, a total of 48, for rapid deployment from the base hanger. The star gate would then be directly linked with earth and used to evacuate as many civilians as possible then funnel troops and supplies in.

Back in the control room the lieutenant at the Comm station signalled the admiral was now on the line, "On screen." Said Miles and the image of Alexei Karenin an admiral now going on 120 years old appeared on the large glass pane hanging from the ceiling, He had moved up from command of the Ajax decades ago and had risen to become the commander in the field of his own patrol wing, one of the 5 in the sector along with the Arcturus Reaction fleet, a total of 128 star ships, that made up the Fifth Fleet, he took orders directly from Sector command at Arcturus station from Admiral Hackett. "Colonel Shane, what can I do for you?"

"Alexei, I'm sending you a video and image of a moon in Beta system orbiting . . . planet B3, a gas giant, we need you to send ships to investigate." There was a pause as the admiral looked over the footage and image on his pad. One of his eyebrows rose and a look of concern came across his face. "Our findings have been sent to Sec-Com and a request for investigation, you should be getting orders soon. We've also put the system on defensive alert just to be on the safe side. I think anything that can tear a moon apart can't have been used for very pleasant reasons." Miles finished.

Alexei nodded in satisfaction, "Of course. If you believe it is necessary I'm certainly not going to undermine you over the colonies safety. I will send the Ajax and the Robin Hood to the Fringes to give you some extra support." There was a voice from a crewman just off screen stating conformation of orders from Sec-Com. "Orders received, we are only 20 minutes out of the system, the other two ships will be with you in around 45. Zhukov out."

In deep space, thousands of miles away from Shaanxi, a fleet of 10 ships dropped out of hyperspace, altered course and set off again towards the Beta system and two towards the Fringes.

_-*%*%*%*-_

Shaanxi colony, Senator's office, Capital Building.

Senator Felicitas Shan looked out of her office window at the city around her with a look of irritation on her face. "There is a population of two and a quarter million on this colony who's stress levels have just gone through the roof, was the activation of the city shields really necessary Colonel? People have begun talking about another deep space Lucian raid. You remember the reports from 10 years ago I hope, over 4000 civilians dead and nearly 5000 captured, the people don't forget those things quickly." She looked back down at the computer screen that held the image of Colonel Miles Shane.

He took a deep breath "Senator, whatever this thing is, it has enough power in it to rip apart the moon it was encased in. And the fact it was even encased to begin with means it has been there for a VERY long time. We have no idea what it can do or why it only activated just now. I am taking precautions for facing the completely unknown."

She considered his words, he was right but that didn't change the fact that she believed he was over reacting, "Alright I'll trust your judgement on this, but I still don't like going this far." Miles nodded and cut the transmission. Felicitas sighed and looked back out of the window, the city had changed so much since she was born.

Daughter to a German mother and Chinese father, who had first met in the early years of the planets expansion into a colony, she was born and raised on this world. She was proud of her home, its achievements and as she was taught by her parents to worked hard and become a productive member of society. Gaining a degree in political science at the age of 22 from the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. In 2060 she had come back home and worked her way up from the city council staff to becoming a city councillor, then to become an elected member of the Shaanxi People's Congress and finally to being elected as Shanxi's representative to the UTNS General Assembly at the age of 45.

After 10 years of being a successful off world base a proposal to the UTNS Office of Colonial Affairs for permission set up a colony was approved. What was once a small archaeological and resource mapping base next to the ruins of the ancient outpost had in 60 years become a small city colony with a large academic community studying the ruins and mapping the galaxy with the powerful observatory telescopes. Its main economy came from in system mining operations and the Chinese based companies that ran the many mining stations dotting the two asteroid belts and delivered raw material to the four mineral refineries that in turn supplied two factories and was also exported out to other worlds via the shipping lanes, it was a colony that had exceeded all expectations and was even starting up a few of its own research companies with plans to create a university.

But ten years ago one of the biggest tragedies since full disclosure of the star gate program, occurred on this planet, for it was the target of one of the largest raids ever committed by the Lucian Alliance into Tau'ri space.

The Alliance had for four decades kept itself out of serious battles and conflicts, but that changed on January 17th 2074. A sudden and drastic change in tactics occurred leading to a massive operation against the Arcturus Sector. On that date at 7:45am Arcturus station time a small team of Alliance operative's detonated three explosive devices, cutting power to nearly two thirds of the station. A fleet of 25 Alliance vessels then jumped into the system. Arcturus immediately sent a distress signal and much of the sector's forces responded, however the attack on Arcturus was a distraction, the real intent was to divert those ships away from the two richest colonies in the sector and keep the reaction fleet at Arcturus busy. Despite both Shaanxi and the primarily Naquada mining colony of Peoples Bounty going on defensive alert the only means of protecting themselves where the small local garrison forces supporting an even smaller number of Terran peacekeepers. Their main protection came from their colony shields. But the Alliance got past this. With the sector patrol fleets now tied up at Arcturus the Alliance attacked the colonies with a small forces of only two Ha'tak class vessels and a number of cargo freighters. One explosive packed freighter in each system was flown into the shielded colonies taking them down but causing little damage as the explosion vaporized most of the freighter as well. Over the next 7 hours the alliance proceeded to raid every valuable installation as well as capturing thousands of civilians before retreating in the face of the returning Tau'ri fleets.

Senator Shan remembered being stuck in the capital building's bomb shelter with the other staff and 400 or so civilians as explosions went off all over the city above them. She pushed the thoughts out of her mind and looked back down at the stack of data pads on her desk. 'Paperwork, I can't believe I actually WANT to do it now.' She thought, 'But it will take my mind of things, I should call mama and papa later.'

_-*%*%*%*-_


	4. Chapter 4

Hello again all.

To those who actually wrote suggestions in the review, my thanks and to those that just complained about inaccuracies please either learn some manners or bugger off, I'm trying to combine two very different universes, I'm all for taking suggestions I like the sound of but there is no need to be rude about it so kindly jog on because i'm just going to ignore you from now on.

**RedSquadron **I think your right, but Tau'ri is a name I always saw as _other people_ using not those from earth about themselves and I couldn't think of another term other than 'Terran' that sounded right. After all the ancients call earth 'Terra'. But any suggestions would be welcome.

**kitsune of darkfire **I never even thought of that thank you, but near instantaneous void travel doesn't really appeal to me, but I will try and think of a fix but don't get too put off by it if you don't like it. Again I have no problems taking suggestions.

But anyway let us continue with the story.

* * *

Chamber of the Primarchs, Capital City Cipritine, Palavern. (Several months earlier.)

"You see general, while the hierarchy appears to be the epitome of social order in the galaxy to the average citizen, for those who look deeper they see the small cracks in our society. And for those who have the responsibility of protecting a nation from not just the rest of the galaxy but also from itself, they see the divisions and dissent of those communities far from the core worlds. We have seen the treasonous intent of those who believe that their lives are more important than the whole, and we deem them criminal." Primarch Veriklas paused as he studied General Oraka's reaction to his words.

The general was standing in front of six Primarchs that stood on the raised floor in the Spartan, but well lit hall carved out of the cave the was once the ancestral focal point for the entire race, and was now the political centre of the Hierarchy.

"Centuries ago the Hierarchy was in a state of civil war that no other species can compare to" continued Primarch Kaketor, "it was the most destructive event in our history, and on the day that victory over the other factions was achieved it has since been the duty of the Primarchs to stop dissent before it can spread and send us back into war."

Septimas considered there words, and he found no fault in them. "Then what is proposed to stop the increase in dissent among the more distant colonies, we cannot just put down every group that tries to destabilise the whole, there have already been three revolts in the past 10 years, we have neither the resources nor support of the population in the outer systems to continue like this."

Primarch Dreka spoke now, "Which is why we must create a stronger sense of loyalty to the entire hierarchy in the people, not just to their home colonies. Two months ago, the decision to open an unexplored mass relay was approved by the council," there was slight twitch if shock in the generals mandibles, "and we have placed you in overall command of the exploration fleet, and direct control over second of three fleet division sent in as their protection. A full briefing on the mission and its goals will be held on the Citadel in two weeks. But that will not be your only mission." he activated his omnitool and keyed in a command, a second later a galaxy map appeared on the floor below them. "This is the Texera Expanse, we have chosen it as the region of space to be opened up. We can use this mission of exploration to achieve our goal of unity. The drive to colonise and protect this area will fall mostly on the Hierarchy as it is closest to our territory and we have claimed responsibility for its development, with this we calculate that the instinct to encourage and support this new frontier will prevail over the rebellious communities."

"I have faith in your decisions Primarchs, but if I may, this doesn't sound like an infallible plan, the expanse lies on the edge of the Skyllian verge the Batarians will not take kindly to our further expanse into the verge. Not to mention the danger in this." Septimus said, his dislike of questioning those above him was visible on his face but he had to ask.

"We agree." Primarch Kaketor replied "But there is a plan that will solve this, conflict." Septimus looked confused then. "If another species resides in this cluster, we have decided that they must be absorbed into the Hierarchy, for the preservation of our people, and the safety of council space from an ignorant species AND the acts of separatists, their subjugation to the superior governing and guidance of the Hierarchy will re-ignite the loyalty of the people in the face of an outside threat and stop a civil war before it begins by reminding them that we are only strong standing together, as well as making sure the new species has a much more secure future, we are the greatest military force in the galaxy, and in such a small region of space, it would be impossible for another race to challenge us."

"Do not misunderstand General Oraka" Primarch Veriklas added," we do not relish this decision, but it is the only scenario in which the Hierarchy and the rest of the council can have an assurance of stability. If another space worthy species resides in this cluster, however small a chance that may be, they must be subjugated by force if necessary, if a civil war is allowed to happen, the damage would be immense."

"And what of the Batarians? Or the risk of another Rachni war!" Septimus asked again.

"The Batarians may be arrogant and socially backwards but they are not stupid," spoke Primarch Varokanus from his small chair, his voiced echoed loudly across the chamber as it had done for the past 30 years, but alas, the old statesman's ears failed to pick up his voices excessive volume, "they are loosing favour with the council more and more every year, they will not voice their claims to the entire Skyllian Verge, it has never and will never be approved by anyone." His confidence was a small reassurance. There was a short pause, Septimus was about to speak but Varokanus cut him off "I realise your concern of opening up an unknown region, but rest assured General, we have been scouring this region of space for many years. We have tagged six minor relay pairs spanning the region, no immediate systems contain habitable planets, and while this doesn't guarantee it does significantly reduce the risk of a first contact scenario. The influence of the Hierarchy must expand, both for our safety and the whole Council's. You are dismissed General, Spirits guide you to a quick and secure victory."

As the general departed through the ancient, thick iron doors the Primarch's descended back into the debate that had raged over the past year. "I can't believe we came to this decision, I feel as though I have de-evolved into a Krogan warlord." said Primarch Kaketer in distaste, "The situation cannot be seen as anything other than an invasion. There is no assurance that the General will not see through the deception and we know NOTHING about the aliens that inhabit this system." The most open critic of the operation was finding it increasingly difficult to keep his temper under control.

Silence reigned over the chamber. The tension could be felt in the air, another argument was imminent. Varokanus boomed out before it could really get under way. "We all bare the responsibilities of the Turian people and by extension the safety of citadel space!" All heads turned to the senior primarch. Varokanus was growing tired of them, of all of it, retirement was looking more appealing every day, but he knew that there were only a couple of Turians left that could do what must be done, to take the questionable, darker paths of leadership, to take the nations wheel and steer its course through void. To Varokanus not even all the primarchs could be trusted to do this and their weakness was why they were not all present at this meeting and why those that weren't had no knowledge of this mission to save his people before they had a chance to put the nation in danger. He continued to stare them down, daring one to interrupt him, "I have been putting down rebellions and slaver fleet since some of you were just entering basic training," he said his voice now lower "we all know why we are doing this and why. When all is said and done I am sure hindsight will allow us to see another route we could have taken, but right now no such plan has come to fruition and we are out of time. We can stall this expedition no longer, not without the other primarchs becoming suspicious. They are too timid before the rest of the council to take these actions and we all know it. His words and voice gave away no doubt in his convictions. He turned his head and looked directly at Veriklas "Are preparations complete on the ship? Any system failure of breach of secrecy in your team . . . " he let the statement hang in the air.

Veriklas bristled at the implication "No, the _Spirit of Trust _is properly rigged with multiple backups and redundancies. Desolus and his team are the best we have, the ship will detonate the moment an alien ship of suitable tonnage gets close enough. Oraka is a fine general and honourable, he will protect the fleet at all costs. Now we have put the idea of subjugation in his mind once he see's that the aliens appear to have shot first he will see the act as justified and not hesitate to return fire. " He looked resolutely at Varokanus "As for Desolas and his team, there are no other Turians more loyal to the Hierarchy. I have known him since I recommended him for the Cabels. He will succeed."

_-*%*%*%*-_

Present date 1040 hours, five minutes after activation of relay 314

The Primarchs words rolled around in Septimus's thoughts, he questioned their decision should the worst come true, a renewed loyalty would be achieve with such militant acts, but that didn't mean he had to like it, in his opinion it was a dangerous act of barbarism, an evolutionary step backwards for civilisation as a whole, however it was not his place to question whether or not it was a justifiable course of action, thankfully the chances of there being anything beyond the relay were incredibly small. He was still uneasy, so he just pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind. He returned to the command podium and waited for confirmation of the probes safe transit.

What they were waiting for was the one probe that carried the long range communication buoy to select a suitable location to deploy, and then the rest would transmit their scans back to the fleet, if the there was no obvious threats on the other side of the relay, the all clear would be given and the defense fleet would pass through as well.

Another ten minutes passed before an icon appeared on the screen of the science officer. "Data received, probes report the relay is located above a gas giant, there are 2 other stellar bodies, both incapable of supporting life and a thin asteroid belt all orbiting a red giant. There are no dangerous anomalies detected, no artificial structures of any kind. It is safe to proceed."

"Thank you science, signal the matriarch that we are moving to secure the new system." Septimus replied.

The massed defense fleet surged towards the relay. Lighter combatants of frigates and corvettes first, followed by the heavier ships of cruisers and finally the dreadnoughts. The mass of 45 ships departed through the relay in waves, leaving behind the expedition fleet of 32 science and research ships with its 15 escorts.

At the same time, just ten minutes outside Beta system. USS Zhukov.

Rear Admiral Alexei Karenin was now on his last tour of duty before retirement, he had refused his last promotion to full Admiral preferring to retain his field command rather than being cooped up in an office for the rest of his career. No, he wasn't going anywhere near politics, he was going to retire early, with a smaller pension and then accept the post from the Ministry of Defense writing on military doctrine from his family home, moving back to Novgorod on earth with his wife and stay close to his family of two married sons, two grandchildren and his first great-grandchild. Now he just hoped that in these last four months, nothing exciting or ultimately dangerous happened. He now had a feeling that this wouldn't be the case as his fleet approached the star system.

"Captain, we have a transmission from the in system observation satellites, several small objects have appeared alongside the unknown structure, we are receiving telemetry."

The Image of what looked like a giant tuning fork came up on the screen, it was a massive piece of engineering hanging over the gas giant, a stark contrast of purple and florescent blue against a background of dark shining gold. Several streaks of blue light flashed across the side of the great structure. "What are they?" asked the tactical officer.

"Can't be certain," was the response from the science officer "but from the size, speed and the way they seem to be spreading out over the system, I'd say they were probes."

Alexei then realised something walking over to the science officers station to look at screen, "So this structure, it's a transportation device?"

The science officer agreed "At least that's definitely one of its functions, who knows what else it could do, but I'm more concerned about who sent them and from where."

Alexei nodded "And what will they send next." He made his decision. "Drop us out of Hyperspace outside the system and then tell all ship to engage cloak and head in on silent running and spread out in pairs over the system to surround the structure, signal tactical alert, I want everybody on standby. Send a transmission to Sec-Com and Shanxi that we have a possible first contact scenario."

The bridge of the Zhukov became a loud, fast paced room with people rushing in and out to get to their battle stations, orders being relayed to the fleet, demands for updates on the status of all systems, dimly flashing red strip lights lit up on the wall panels signifying a tactical alert and a clear male voice came over the ship wide speakers "COMBAT STATIONS COMBAT STATIONS ALL HANDS TO COMBAT STATIONS". Alexei sat back in the captain's chair and waited the last few minute for the action to begin.

Out in space on the edge of star system Beta, eight ships exited hyperspace. The Zhukov, an Achilles class battle cruiser, three Daedalus Refit class Heavy Cruisers and four O'niell class Frigates. Each frigate paired up with one of the capital ships and all ships switched to their cloaking shields and headed into the system completely unnoticeable.

_-*%*%*%*-_

Search **Achilles class battle cruiser, **there is a picture, the first one there, it looks amazing.


End file.
